I won’t hesitate to say this as I have no doubts that this is going to be one of the best show for me this season and I’m already waiting to see more. We rarely get good to see slice of life anime without high school theme and with some mature characters. For this reason I’m sure this anime will be very different and will be depicting some real life issues that adults may encounter other than those teenage high school problems. This show will be more relatable to those who have recently graduated from university as the portrayal of the protagonist, Rikuo is on point.
This anime managed to make us not just adore the characters the y have introduced so far, but also understand them to the extent that you can feel those emotions as if you have experienced them. Rikuo is a fresh college grad and has recently entered the life of adult to face all the real hardships of life outside the life of college and school and it’s something he wasn’t really prepared for. He calls himself a ‘societal failure’ in order to disregard the situation he has been caught up in. It’s not that he feels happy or relieved saying that nut it’s just his way to justify his flaws to everyone including himself. According to him he is not interested in anything and the part time job is just a way for him to get by but it’s something that he feels really acclimatized with as this daily routine is just something that he can count on for stay like this for longer period without any interruption in life. I’m glad that he communicate this to a friend of his who visited him. They both agreed on this point that most of the people do things that they don’t really want to do (it’s a reality check since that is the mundane work life of an adult) but they still continue doing it as they want to be accepted in the society. It felt so good to actually hear that being communicated so explicitly in the anime. Because I can completely relate to this situation. I’m always confuse about stuff that I’m really interested in end up landing a boring job that is not very challenging but just doing it since it’s something that will continue for long without any interruption. Although I’m always looking for things that I will not just do but will work on with all my heart. This is the reason why Rikuo is already my favorite character of the series.
The rest of the characters were also not any less interesting which include Haru, Shinako and Kinoshita. Haru seems like a character which is unpredictable and can become an essential part of the plot any time. In compared Rikuo, she is calm and though she is in the same situation but look at it quite differently. Shinako is also a nice addition in the story and she seems to be an integral part of the plot as she has some strong connection with both Rikuo and Haru and this can be something interesting to watch in the future. The idea of rejoining with a person who once was very close, felt good to watch so I’m looking forward to watch how this will affect the relationship of her with Rikou. I’m also looking forward to see more about the guilt that Haru has for not supporting a student as a teacher. As far as Kinoshita, he seems like a typical supporting character but I would like to see him making appearances time to time as I like the moments of his interactions. He is a kind of character who is optimistic about the same mundane life in a very unusual and impossible way. And according to him that is his way of ignoring the hardships of the reality of this life.
It’s just the first episode and I’m already looking forward to the next episodes and longing to see how this story unfolds and how will these deep and relatable characters will develop. I think this anime will be slow burn with some dramatic moments that will make feel all kind of emotions. I love art style of the anime and the idea of using manga art for the flashbacks was very nicely put. The visuals felt soft and aesthetically soft to the eyes that actually complement with the theme of the anime. I’m expecting a great story and plot from this anime. Let’s see how it really goes.
